More from Goal.com More English PL coverage from Goal.com More Italian Serie A coverage from Goal.com More Spanish La Liga coverage from Goal.com More U.S., MLS soccer coverage from Goal.com More Mexican soccer coverage from Goal.com

By Panos Bletsos, Special to SI.com, Goal.com

Almost two years after hanging up his boots, it seems that the great Dennis Bergkamp has had a change of heart concerning his future after offered a coaching job at former club, Ajax.

Arguably one of the very best Dutch players of his generation, Bergkamp quit soccer at Arsenal by the end of the 2005-06 season. Although he then insisted he would not become a coach and even rejected an offer to serve as a scout for the Londoners, it looks like he has finally reconsidered.

Next month, the former international attacking midfielder, now age 38, will start attending an intensive course of lessons in Amsterdam specially set up by the Dutch federation to prepare former top players to obtain a professional coaching diploma, should he pass the admission examination first. The legendary Johan Cruyff has graduated from the same course.

If all goes well, he will have the chance of spending some time at Ajax once again, as his former teammate Marco van Basten has already offered him a traineeship.

"Obviously his registration is already sufficient for anyone to draw a conclusion," Bergkamp's agent, Rob Jansen, told the online version of Voetbal International magazine. "Dennis will do the course, spend that training period at Ajax and then take it from there."

A product of the world famous Ajax academy, Bergkamp started his career as a striker. In fact, he was hailed as the ideal successor of van Basten when the latter moved to Milan.

"I called Dennis a couple of weeks ago, because I wanted to know how he was doing and if he would want to do something for Ajax, in whatever capacity," the next Ajax boss told the club's official Web site. "It is important to work with as much quality as possible with Ajax and it is obvious that Dennis has qualities."

"In our conversation, Dennis said that he would come to the Netherlands to take the coaching course. Participants have to enter a traineeship, so I offered him a trainee post and he was very interested."

"I hope and expect that this will be good for both the club and Dennis. I think he can make players better. His presence will have an impact on the team. For Ajax as a whole it is also good that someone of Dennis' stature is involved. At Ajax, Dennis can discover how he likes it to be on the pitch in a different role."

The only thing that has yet to be decided is the exact duration of the traineeship. The former Internazionale ace has been spending time with his family at their home in Hertfordshire, England, playing golf and traveling since he quit soccer, but recently told Sportweek magazine that "Being out of the game is beginning to itch."

And although he did spend seven years at Ajax, he spent another 11 at Arsenal. So it will come as no wonder that several British bookmakers are already tipping him as a possible Arsène Wenger successor sometime in the future.

Some British media, including The Times, even suggest that Bergkamp will be attending lessons in London, under the French master, and not in the Netherlands.

During his illustrious two-decade career, Dennis "The Menace" Bergkamp won 17 trophies, including the former European Cup Winners' Cup and twice the UEFA Cup, as well as 13 individual awards.